Lewis Lustman

Lewis Lustman is a content marketer who enjoys developing materials that engage, inform, challenge, and hopefully entertain my audience. Lewis is a former journalist for Los Angeles Magazine and the Los Angeles Times, and has worked for a number of leading advertising, marketing, technology, and PR firms over the years. Interested in a topic that he hasn't yet tackled? Drop him a line in the comments section!

As businesses become comfortable using the Internet to handle a variety of support functions, a surprising number and diverse sorts of “Do-It-Yourself” services have become available, including “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) online background checks.

While seemingly simple and affordable, such services present potential risks that could pose a threat to a businesses’ brand.

Here’s a brief list of considerations that could serve as a litmus test as to whether a DIY background check service or a more-conventional Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) is the best choice for you.

Phone or in-person interviews for first-time meetings with job candidates are just so 20th Century.

Today, it’s just as easy – and may be quite a bit better for you, your company, and the candidate – to use video for the initial interview.

Consider: It will take the same amount of time as a face-to-face or voice-only meeting, but using Skype or Facetime for the initial interview offers a number of significant benefits to HR professionals.

You’ve probably already hired Millennials and will be hiring more. But don’t expect them to stay long. Millennials are twice as likely as 30-somethings to leave a job after just three years — and this gap will only widen with age.